[Steve_Seattle]

"As Hanson notes, it is the mere capacity to discuss and review our imperfection that makes America relentlessly great."

Europeans believe - based on what they are told by their media elites - that America is a land incapable of self-criticism. But America and Israel are arguably the two nations in the world with the strongest traditions of self-criticism. In our literature, our cinema, our laws, our courts, our media, our music, our political debate, we surpass most countries in self-criticism and self-analysis.

[California Patriot]

That may well be true, but I’m not sure how relevant it is. I think most of our self-criticism just ends up serving the goals of the liberal left. What matters most is not our ability to analyze and critize ourselves, but our ability to do what needs to be done — to change what needs to be changed, and to preserve what must be preserved. By that standard, American politics has been largely a failure. I don’t see much hope at this time.